LNER "requesting" people wear facemasks 100% of the time on their stations and trains

[43096]

Please define precisley what you mean by "overly authoritarian". I suspect if you challenge anyone on the railway with your attitude you'll swiftly find yourself on a platform accompanied by two of BTPs finest with some shiney silver braclets on.

Where are these BTP officers coming from? They're never around when there's a real issue, let alone some pointless frippery like you are suggesting.

 

[yorkie]

Or is it just you don't like the answer?

It's not that I don't like the answer, the reality is people can say what they want but the reality is that most people are not wearing them. If you wish to post your observations, feel free to contribute to the relevant thread. Check out my posts, and those of others, on that thread.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for you to share the responses you've had to all these complaints you've been threatening to make.

That's great.

There is going to be a blood pressure pandemic at this rate....

OK.

Please define precisley what you mean by "overly authoritarian".

I will judge any behaviour as I see it and if I think it needs to be challenged, I will do so.

I suspect if you challenge anyone on the railway with your attitude you'll swiftly find yourself on a platform accompanied by two of BTPs finest with some shiney silver braclets on.

We will see about that!

 

[superalbs]

I've not been in the UK since before the 19th of July, but even then mask compliance was nowhere near 65%, and even then on some mid-evening trains with light loads it was 0%.

 

[Domh245]

Or is it just you don't like the answer?

There are many valid criticisms of polling, unrepresentative sampling being a key one. Further to @yorkie's general point about the sort of people who answer these polls, it's important to note that the 64% refers to all adults - not those who actually use it. It's very easy to say you'd wear a mask on public transport if you have no intention of using public transport!

It's also worth considering the context under which the poll had been carried out - lots of trumpeting around "freedom day" with plenty of doom & gloom from some quarters alongside rapid growth in the number of positive tests being returned. Several weeks on and with stagnant case numbers and none of the dire forecasts coming true, people will inevitably feel less concerned now than they were in the run up to the 19th July

Whilst looking through the data, I also found an interesting little bit of information. The %age of people who reported seeing "everyone or almost everyone" wearing a face covering whilst out shopping in the previous 7 days has gone from 87% the week ended 4th July to 69% the week ended 25th July (last week of data) - which corresponds to the general reporting here about people beginning to move away from wearing face coverings

 

[bramling]

That's not what I've experienced out and about.

50:50 at most.

Yes it hovers around 50/50, even on TfL where masks are still mandated.

So out of the first 50% this will cover those who are exempt and those who feel empowered enough not to comply. Out of the other 50% there will no doubt be a proportion who are simply wearing them to keep the peace. So this means the hardcore mask obsessives are in the minority.

As an aside, I’ve noticed the blue disposable (sorry, I meant to write stick in the pocket and re-use 100 times!) ones are rather rarer now. Many of the hardcore types seem to prefer the black fabric ones, which personally I find look rather sinister.

 

[MDB1images]

"Face coverings are no longer mandatory on public transport but we recommend you wear them in busy places".

Job done. No whittling about respect like a crap teenager from 2005 who thinks they're a gangster. No guilt tripping. Just clear information in a concise sentence that gets across the message my employer requests, whether I happen to agree or not.

Indeed, simple, accurate and to the point.

 

[Furryanimal]

GWR keeping up the pressure.Just had this in an e-mail from them

England​

The requirement to wear face coverings in law has been lifted. However, the Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.

As I live in Wales I have to wear them here but I have seen a slight drop in compliance over the past week on the trains,buses and in shops.

 

[yorkie]

GWR keeping up the pressure.Just had this in an e-mail from them

England​

The requirement to wear face coverings in law has been lifted. However, the Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.

Thus makes me want to push back against this nonsense even more!

As I live in Wales I have to wear them here but I have seen a slight drop in compliance over the past week on the trains,buses and in shops.

Good to hear

 

[Class 33]

GWR keeping up the pressure.Just had this in an e-mail from them

England​

The requirement to wear face coverings in law has been lifted. However, the Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.

As I live in Wales I have to wear them here but I have seen a slight drop in compliance over the past week on the trains,buses and in shops.

I got that email too. I'll be traveling with GWR down to Weymouth tomorrow. First train journey for me since 19th July actually. I certainly won't be wearing a silly face covering!

 

[jumble]

The vast majority of the public continue to wear masks in indoor spaces. LNER are simply exercising good business sense by suggesting passengers continue to do so. I welcome their stance. I'd suggest that (as ever) the users of this forum are not representative of the travelling public.

I assume you have not been in any pubs or restaurants recently
If you had you would see about 5% of people wearing masks
Yesterday in Asda no more than about 40% were wearing them
LNER have no idea if they would do better business by not making this fuss and not annoying people who do not want to wear masks or whether they do better by attracting the frightened by making the fuss
( I suspect the frightened will not be travelling by train in any case)
Fortunately for me I am grown up and can make my own decisions

​

 

[Ianno87]

I assume you have not been in any pubs or restaurants recently
If you had you would see about 5% of people wearing masks

​

To state the bleedin' obvious, you can't eat or drink whilst wearing a mask, so such a low percentage is hardly a surprise.

 

[jumble]

To state the bleedin' obvious, you can't eat or drink whilst wearing a mask, so such a low percentage is hardly a surprise.

Well it will be to the person who claims that the vast majority are still wearing them

 

[greyman42]

To state the bleedin' obvious, you can't eat or drink whilst wearing a mask, so such a low percentage is hardly a surprise.

I would imagine that the poster was referring to the fact that hardly anyone wears them to enter or move around the pub/restaurant.

 

[Green tractor]

Thus makes me want to push back against this nonsense even more!

Why would a TOC repeating the official UK government line be a problem? They are not saying you must wear one, just that it is expected and recommended.

 

[43066]

Why would a TOC repeating the official UK government line be a problem? They are not saying you must wear one, just that it is expected and recommended.

Many announcements are going far beyond that and including passive aggressive little digs: “wear one to show respect” etc. implying that anyone choosing not to wear is being disrespectful. Utter rubbish, completely unnecessary and not at all conducive to the kind of welcoming environment we need to be creating in order to bring passengers back.

@LowLevel ’s example above is what is necessary - why go beyond that!

 

[Dent]

@LowLevel ’s example above is what is necessary - why go beyond that!

Actually, why have any messaging at all? If it is supposed to be a personal choice, what business do they have trying to manipulate other people's personal choices anyway?

I would rather they just removed all posters, messages and other communication about masks and let everyone get on with making their own personal choices free from any interference.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Actually, why have any messaging at all? If it is supposed to be a personal choice, what business do they have trying to manipulate other people's personal choices anyway?

I would rather they just removed all posters, messages and other communication about masks and let everyone get on with making their own personal choices free from any interference.

Private individuals with God complexes.

Or its all just marketing spin, they think its what the most want so thats what they follow and will flip when it pans out another way.

Both despicable MO's

 

[43066]

I would rather they just removed all posters, messages and other communication about masks and let everyone get on with making their own personal choices free from any interference.

So would I!

Private individuals with God complexes.

Or its all just marketing spin, they think its what the most want so thats what they follow and will flip when it pans out another way.

Both despicable MO's

To what extent there is still a DfT requirement to make announcements of this nature I’m not sure, but it’s clear that TOCs themselves still require announcements to be made. On train staff clearly have no choice other than to do as instructed by their employers, and should never be criticised for doing so. However they *should* be wording their announcements to say precisely the minimum necessary as per “see it, say it, sorted”.

Going beyond that is inappropriate and unprofessional. Sadly there have been some fairly egregious examples cited on this forum and indeed I’ve heard some myself.

 

[greyman42]

Why would a TOC repeating the official UK government line be a problem? They are not saying you must wear one, just that it is expected and recommended.

It is not expected, it is optional.

 

[Killingworth]

Two Northern journeys today. No obvious sight or sound of instructions to wear masks or to distance on stations or train. About 10% wearing. I wore mine out of habit but next week may have lost my last one.

 

[Hadders]

No mask announcements on LNER this afternoon when I travelled between Stevenage and Leeds.

Plenty about the at seat catering service in standard not working though!

 

[island]

@LowLevel ’s example above is what is necessary - why go beyond that!

Virtue signalling.

 

[londonteacher]

From travelling on GWR and SWR today as well as TFL services, and throughout the week visiting many towns across the Midlands-ish area (Northampton, Banbury and Coventry), yesterday Chatham and Gillingham and today in Windsor I have to say the number of people wearing masks on public transport and generally is quite high.

I have only heard the announcements on occasion on the TOCs occasionally and they were definitely not aggressive at all.

Maybe this is an issue on certain TOCs and in certain areas the number of people wearing masks is really low. In my experience of the last week, not so much in the areas that I have visited but definitely less than before.

 

[E100]

ONS report that 65% intend on wearing them on public transport.

TBH I find your tone here more aggressive than that of LNER. Quite why people get so worked up over wearing a small piece of cloth over their face is beyond me.

I agree. It doesn't seem that hard to me but hey ho others have a different opinion. I primarily wish people would stop getting their blood pressure up over this, whichever side they stand on.

 

[AlterEgo]

The vast majority of the public continue to wear masks in indoor spaces. LNER are simply exercising good business sense by suggesting passengers continue to do so. I welcome their stance. I'd suggest that (as ever) the users of this forum are not representative of the travelling public.

I think you need to get out and about on a wider variety of trains. In London on SE, the mask wearing rate is about 10 or 20%, with the highest rate I’ve seen probably about 40-50% on the Cumbrian Coast last week. Most people are not wearing face coverings on the train. As a vague rule of thumb the more rural and parochial the area, the higher the mask wearing is. Off peak sees less mask wearing than the peak, too, in my experience.

ONS report that 65% intend on wearing them on public transport.

What people do and what they say they’ll do are two very different things.

 

[bramling]

Many announcements are going far beyond that and including passive aggressive little digs: “wear one to show respect” etc. implying that anyone choosing not to wear is being disrespectful. Utter rubbish, completely unnecessary and not at all conducive to the kind of welcoming environment we need to be creating in order to bring passengers back.

@LowLevel ’s example above is what is necessary - why go beyond that!

I notice Euston now has a pre-recorded PA encouraging people to wear masks "out of respect for others". What's doubly irritating is it's been recorded using the male version of the two utterly cringeworthy voices which have been heard on NR stations since this all kicked off.

Meanwhile, TfL had the mask compliance enforcement officers at Edgware today, second time I've seen them there recently, though they didn't seem to be doing much. Perhaps they sensed it was a losing battle, since 50-75% of people weren't wearing masks, and were simply strolling past.

I really object to all this passive-aggressive stuff.

 

[DustyBin]

I think you need to get out and about on a wider variety of trains. In London on SE, the mask wearing rate is about 10 or 20%, with the highest rate I’ve seen probably about 40-50% on the Cumbrian Coast last week. Most people are not wearing face coverings on the train. As a vague rule of thumb the more rural and parochial the area, the higher the mask wearing is. Off peak sees less mask wearing than the peak, too, in my experience.

What people do and what they say they’ll do are two very different things.

Very much so. There was a YouGov poll a couple of months back that found something like 60% of people would wear a mask in the gym. My GF and I are both regular gym goers and at our (separate) gyms mask wearing is precisely 0%. Who on earth actually responds to these polls?!

 

[island]

Very much so. There was a YouGov poll a couple of months back that found something like 60% of people would wear a mask in the gym. My GF and I are both regular gym goers and at our (separate) gyms mask wearing is precisely 0%. Who on earth actually responds to these polls?!

People with lots of time on their hands.

In this case, the percentages are being propped up by people who never go to a gym saying “well if I did go I’d wear a mask”.

 

[DustyBin]

People with lots of time on their hands.

In this case, the percentages are being propped up by people who never go to a gym saying “well if I did go I’d wear a mask”.

That’s the only conclusion I can reach too!

 

[TUC]

Really no different to the signs outside many supermarkets suggesting that customers continue to wear masks.

You can ignore a request, so what's the problem?

Use of ALL CAPITALS is widely taken to be the written equivalent of shouting.

Only to a certain type of person.